County: Derry Site name: DERNAGROSS
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/04/90
Author: Norman Crothers, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.
Site type: Habitation site
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 686843m, N 920406m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.023615, -6.641865
During the watching brief for the North-West Gas Pipeline, an oval feature filled with a dark-brown sandy soil was noted close to the middle of the field. Hand clearance uncovered several more features and the area around them was cleaned up using a small mechanical excavator under supervision. Several more pits, post-holes and an area of possible burnt-mound material were uncovered. The pits were mainly concentrated in four clusters. A group of three at the north-east limit of excavation, two groups of five and ten at the centre of the excavated area and a fourth group of twelve at the south-west limit.
A large quantity of late Bronze Age pottery was recovered from one of the large pits in the south-west of the site and probably represents the remains of a single vessel. Two fragments of polished stone axes were recovered from two other pits in the central area.
Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ
